Cryptic crossword No 3,125

Thanks, Baldur. I loved 21a, cheeky 18a and topical 7a. 1a was very clever although beyond me - like most of the time with this sort of reverse clue I bunged it in from the enumeration and crossers. I hadn't heard of 14d but found it clearly enough clued. I liked the homophone indicator in 20d too.

Took me a while to finish this one - 3/4 filled in then last few I found tricky to parse ( 14d - new word to me, 3d- still don't quite get it?, 6d & 17d found a little tough ). Liked 5d, 16d (great surface), 21a, 23a, 18a (so simple :-) ), 15a, 8d, 20a, ("when escaping from trap" is a devious homophone indicator). 1a is v clever and only got it when I read your explanation - I guess the synonym is "The moment" or is it intended as a pure &lit? Nice mix of clues, and some fun indicators. Cheers!

Thanks Baldur for a well annotated crossword. I enjoyed this with my top picks being 1a (super), 15a, 21a, 25a, and 7d. More in reply.

Thanks Baldur. Remarkable set of annotations. 9a, 23a and 17d my podium. 14d and 16d: so much for the old advice of cluing harder solutions more easily and avoiding anagrams for them! 14d ended up being a bit of a lucky plump for the right answer. Thanks. PM